Why Vettel will do the right thing

Mark Webber's title hopes could rest on Sebastian Vettel being willing to hand him victory in Abu Dhabi. With the team saying it's all up to the drivers, Jonathan Noble assess the Webber/Vettel dynamic

Will he? Won't he? The big question buzzing around the paddock, almost before the two Red Bull Racing cars had crossed the finish line in Brazil, was whether Sebastian Vettel would be willing to move over for team-mate Mark Webber in this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if it helped the Australian to the world title.

The whole Interlagos weekend was dominated by talk about the team orders situation at Red Bull ahead of the championship showdown - with Webber obviously keen for the outfit to throw all its weight behind him in its fight with Fernando Alonso.

And while the story had been bubbling away since the Korean Grand Prix, when the reality of Red Bull's situation meant backing Vettel was far from straightforward, it was thrust into the limelight on the eve of the Brazil weekend when Webber let rip to the press.

Whether it was frustration at the situation he found himself in, anger at the fact Gerhard Berger - a man close to Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz - had been allowed to slate him in public on a Red Bull-owned television channel, or simply a bit of fun with the media, Webber caused a bit of a storm when he suggested that the team 'emotionally favoured' Vettel.

It was the first time since the famous wing saga at the British Grand Prix that Webber had taken an aggressive stance against the team for its policy - and it put his bosses on the backfoot when they admitted that his comments had been a bit 'leftfield.'

Webber has played a blinder this year with the media and his driving - delivering crucially at key points of the season, and making it clear, when he felt there was injustice within the team, that it was out there in the open for the matter to be nipped in the bud.

But while his hint at a conspiracy in Turkey and his anger at the wing situation at Silverstone had served as rallying moments for his troops - and the press - and helped him seize the initiative (and valuable points), things did not pan out quite the way he would have liked after his Brazilian rant.

For while certainly the media once again had some sympathy for Webber - the man who has emerged as the people's champion this year because he has so far beaten the system - this time the impression is his stance may actually have backfired within the team.

As boss Christian Horner worked hard to defuse the situation and insist the team had always treated Webber equally and as fairly as Vettel, the feeling was that Red Bull's senior management - going as high as Mateschitz - was furious that Webber had moved to try and destabilise matters in its moment of glory.

And while Webber, with his Aussie Grit, may care little if his feelings upset a few people, the difficulty for him now is the impact it has had on Vettel.

His team-mate certainly had a resigned smile on his face when asked about the emotional favouritism comments by the British press immediately after Webber spoke out - before then telling his German colleagues that if his team-mate wanted help then maybe he should go to the medical car...

Vettel and Webber's relationship is certainly frosty (which is to be expected for two men gunning for title glory) yet there is a school of thought that suggests Webber may actually be better off in the situation he finds himself in - ahead in the points but not the man on form - by actually sucking up to Vettel a little.

Red Bull had made it clear that it will not interfere with the title battle and, with relations as they are between the two men in the RB6s, there was absolutely no chance that Vettel was going to do anything other than deliver the win in Brazil he needed to keep his title hopes alive.

And it is the Webber/Vettel dynamic that is no doubt the reason why Vettel drew short of confirming after the race on Sunday about what he would do if he was heading Webber in Abu Dhabi, and not swapping positions would cost the Australian the title.

He is now having fun with the situation - saying he is enjoying 'teasing' the press, which you must of course read as a bit of a mind game with Webber too.

But how different would things be if Webber had changed his approach - and rather than criticising Vettel indirectly, had actually spoken a bit more in support of him? What if he had said he was a great team-mate, that his driving had been brilliant but bad luck had cost him - and that he had no doubt that Vettel was a good guy and definitely would do the right thing in the final two races of the season to ensure that Ferrari did not come out on top?

Would Vettel then have perhaps been tempted to sacrifice his win in Brazil for the good of the camp? Would the team harmony give Webber the confidence that he needs to know he is going to Brazil as the favoured man to come out on top?

Of course we will never know for definite - but as we head to Abu Dhabi it means that question of 'will he, won't he' is on the tip of everyone's tongue rather than everyone knowing for definite what the end game is.

Despite that background, however, of course Vettel is going to do the right thing. But now he is going to make sure that Webber not only knows how much he has been helped, he is going to make certain the Australian sweats a fair bit about if it will happen - and perhaps all the way until the final corner, of the final lap, of the final race of the season.

Even in the heat of their troubled relationship this year, I have it on very good authority that there has been one occasion this season where Vettel already did the 'right thing' for the team - and that means the 'right thing' ultimately for Webber - even though it ultimately meant the young German's own title ambitions took a bit of a hit.

I'm not at liberty to say when that was, only the man himself can do that, but should he need to do the right thing again in Abu Dhabi, then have no doubts he will do it. Maybe then we will come to appreciate how it is Vettel who has played the team game all year.

Even Webber himself may well finally agree.

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